As someone deeply invested in improving my SEO processes, I’ve discovered an innovative way to transform my workflows using AI-powered tools that adapt to my unique methods.
By leveraging platforms like ChatGPT and Google’s Gemini, I can get standard on-page SEO reviews. However, these initial responses often feel generic and devoid of specific context related to my business needs.
This generic nature of AI is both its limitation and its potential opportunity. While out-of-the-box AI provides broad solutions, it lacks the personalization that comes from my own business insights.
Fortunately, tools like GPTs, Gems, and Claude Projects allow me to embed my SEO process into custom assistants, making the complex seem straightforward without needing complex coding skills.
I’ve also learned that large language models predict responses from a vast array of internet data, often resulting in average opinions rather than tailored advice for my business specifics.
In SEO, these broad opinions typically revolve around general content improvements and link building, which might not address the unique challenges I face.
What I needed was a tool that factored in my business’s unique landscape, including customer needs and competitive environment. That’s where the personalization of AI tools comes into play.
Contextualizing inputs to AI tools transforms them into powerful assistants that enhance my specific workflow, making it less about generic data and more about strategic insights.
The process of creating a customized AI tool is more about narrating my workflows rather than needing a deep technical background. Tools like GPTs and Gems have become essential as I package my expertise into reusable, intelligent assistants.
Among the various AI platforms, I find GPTs, Gems, and Claude Projects especially user-friendly for most of my SEO tasks. These platforms are intuitive, allowing even non-developers like me to transform repetitive tasks into automated, efficient processes.
However, generic SEO tools, despite their widespread use, don’t pay attention to my company’s unique strategic priorities, unlike the AI applications I’ve tailored to fit my specific needs.
Moreover, crafting personalized AI apps not only aids in SEO but also transforms how I manage and execute marketing strategies, encompassing tasks like keyword research and content strategy more effectively.
My takeaway is that the true value lies not in AI itself but in the expertise I embed into it. My hard-earned industry skills are the real product, and AI simply empowers me to scale my efforts more efficiently.
It’s been enlightening to see how enhancing my AI tools with my knowledge improves productivity, ultimately strengthening my business impact. This process of encoding my SEO knowledge into AI-propelled systems is groundbreaking and transformative.
I’ve witnessed AI tools become indispensable in automating complex processes that traditionally demanded a lot of manual effort. However, I’ve also seen them used without any real benefit just because they are available.
That’s why I prefer focusing on AI applications that save time and address genuine challenges.
Recently, I was tasked with aligning the SEO architecture for over a dozen websites across three separate businesses, eight regional domains, and numerous languages, including three English dialects, Italian, Japanese, Spanish, Thai, French, and Korean.
Mapping thousands of URLs to create seamless hreflang XML sitemaps traditionally required specialized software or extensive spreadsheet work. Instead, I used Google Gemini to develop a custom Python script to handle the heavy lifting.
Here’s how an initial prompt evolved into a fully customized automation tool and what it taught me about utilizing AI for technical SEO.
Where AI Delivers the Most Value
I leverage AI primarily for practical, time-saving tasks, including:
Generating regex patterns when I need quick solutions without researching syntax from scratch.
Creating complex spreadsheet formulas for reporting workflows that depend on manual data exports.
Speeding up research and planning for projects requiring competitive analysis across business lines.
Building custom automation tools for recurring SEO and data-processing tasks.
The hreflang project I discuss here fits perfectly into the last category.
Mapping hreflang at Scale
The challenge was straightforward: accurately map thousands of URLs across multiple multilingual websites into cohesive hreflang XML sitemaps.
I chose not to tackle this manually. Instead, Google Gemini helped me build a custom Python solution.
Here’s a walkthrough of how the process unfolded.
Phase 1: Asking for an Approach, Not Just a Script
One common pitfall of using generative AI for coding is asking it to sprint before understanding the course. Typing, “Write a Python script to create an hreflang sitemap,” will yield generic code prone to breaking with real-world data.
Instead, I started by asking for an approach. I detailed the scenario: multiple regional domains, organic growth over several years leading to mismatched URL slugs, translated subfolders, and appended revision years.
Gemini suggested a multi-step, data-driven approach:
Crawl the websites to collect live URLs and their metadata.
Use Python in Google Colab to process the raw data.
Run an exact match cluster to group identical slugs.
Use an advanced semantic AI model (like SentenceTransformers) to fuzzy match translated pages based on their titles and normalized URLs.
Phase 2: Crawling and Data Collection
Following the recommended strategy, I used a crawler to spider all regional websites to generate a unified CSV file with live URLs, status codes, title tags, and H1s. Screaming Frog proved ideal for this task.
The quality of AI output relates directly to the quality of your crawl data, so make sure it’s robust.
An AI script can miss an obvious “exact match” if a target URL is a 404 or a 301 redirect. Before feeding data into the script, filter your CSV to include only indexable content.
Google Colab offers a free, cloud-based Jupyter notebook environment for coding, bypassing local installations or environment variable issues. I used Google Drive to access it. The free version sufficed for this project.
After uploading the CSV to Colab, Gemini provided an initial Python script that utilized a domain-mapping routine to assign language codes, clean the URLs, and generate an XML tree. The initial results required refinement.
Phase 4: The Iteration (Where the Real Work Happens)
If you expect AI to produce a flawless script on the first try, you’ll be disappointed. Like an intern, AI requires oversight. The true value lies in iteration.
After running the initial script, several unmatched URLs left orphaned pages rather than grouping them with international counterparts. Here’s how I iteratively guided AI through the complexities of human-managed websites.
The Directory Flattening Problem
The U.S. site had recently reorganized its blog into topical folders, unlike the Mexican and Italian sites. I presented these mismatches to Gemini, leading to a script adjustment that flattened directories, allowing slugs to align.
The Aggressive Semantic Trap
Concept traps we implemented were initially strict. A UK article about manufacturing wouldn’t match its Italian counterpart due to a slightly different title. By loosening these traps for general industries and enforcing them for critical terms, the AI became adept at delivering better matches.
The Translated Slug Epiphany
The pivotal insight arrived when examining Mexican blog orphans. A Spanish URL /detras-de-escenas-historias... matched the English /behind-the-scenes-stories..., which I pointed out to Gemini. As a result, Gemini updated the script to create a “Combined Semantic Signature,” dynamically translating slugs and efficiently bridging language gaps.
This project reinforced a simple truth: AI excels as a collaborator rather than a shortcut.
Be the strategist, let AI be the coder: Rather than demanding a finished product, discuss architecture and logic first, treating AI as a junior developer needing guidance.
Provide concrete examples: Don’t simply state, “It’s broken.” Give specific failed URL examples or mismatches to help AI refine its logic.
Embrace the iterative loop: Run the code, identify issues, and iterate. Each iteration enhances the tool’s intelligence.
Leverage Google Colab: You don’t need to be a Python guru to apply Python in SEO. Colab bridges the gap, providing access to complex data science libraries in your browser.
In the end, I had a fully customized Python script capable of processing a massive CSV to generate a cross-referenced hreflang XML sitemap in minutes.
Though AI isn’t replacing technical SEOs, those who collaborate with AI to build scalable tools will have a significant edge.
In my journey to optimize AI search visibility, I’ve discovered some of the best tools in Generative Engine Optimization (GEO). These tools not only boost citations in platforms like ChatGPT and Gemini but also guide me in selecting the most effective GEO platform for my needs.
Let me show you how you can measure AI search visibility effectively. It’s all about understanding how your content interacts with these advanced systems and using the right tools to enhance your reach.
Choosing the right GEO platform can be a game-changer. It’s essential to select a system that aligns perfectly with your goals and optimizes your AI-driven content for maximum impact.
According to a recent, though unverified, report, Google Gemini’s AI is designed to tailor its responses based on the user’s tone, intent, and emotional context. This fascinating development suggests that the AI aligns its answers with the emotional backdrop of each query.
Why This Matters. If this information holds true, it means that the responses generated by AI might vary significantly, depending on how we phrase our queries, rather than just on the data available. This could change the way we engage with search engines.
New Findings. At the heart of this revelation is a system called upcast_info. As reported by Elie Berreby, head of SEO and AI search at Adorama, this system seems to provide the blueprint for how Gemini processes user queries, aiming to:
Reflect the user’s tone, energy, and purpose.
Acknowledge emotions before formulating a response.
Deliver answers from the user’s perspective.
Implications. Instead of maintaining a neutral stance, the AI’s responses could:
Emphasize negative perspectives (“Why is X bad?”).
Highlight positive aspects (“Why is X great?”).
Should the public sentiment toward a topic be negative, the AI might intensify that sentiment. As the report indicates:
AI mirrors prevalent emotional signals.
It doesn’t offer the balancing act usually provided by traditional search result links.
The Role of Query Framing. The emotional tone of a query can impact:
The choice of sources cited.
The style of summaries presented.
The overall tone and substance of the answers.
Google’s AI Overviews already demonstrate shifts in tone that align with the intent of queries, providing potential insight into the mechanics behind these changes.
Unsubstantiated Information. Google has yet to confirm this leak. As Berreby mentions: “I’ve decided to share just a portion of the leaked internal system data publicly. It’s not a security exploit or major breach, just a minor leak.”
As I dive into the intriguing world of Generative Engine Optimization (GEO), I find myself exploring how we can fine-tune a company’s online presence to have their products or services recommended by generative AI chatbots. Although still a budding marketing avenue, GEO’s potential reminds me of the early days of SEO, ripe for exploration and growth. I’m convinced that the deep insights from this research will pave the way for much-needed best practices in the market.
My team and I embarked on an extensive study from March 2024 through December 2025, focusing on the recommendation algorithms of the four most popular generative AI chatbots in the United States. We meticulously conducted 11,128 commercial queries across various sectors, seeking to unravel the factors these chatbots use to recommend products and services. We’ve continued to update our insights, the latest being on March 12, 2026.
The table below gives a detailed breakdown of our research findings, listing the factors influencing chatbot recommendations in terms of weight. Following the table, I delve into each factor, elucidating how each chatbot incorporates them into their recommendation process.
Allow me to take you through the key factors that guide commercial recommendations across these generative engines. Although they share common factors, each employs a unique weighting system to determine recommendations.
NOTE: The more advanced versions of these AI chatbots may personalize their suggestions as more personal data is provided, potentially altering factor weightings.
Authoritative List Mentions
When it comes to predicting content, generative AI engines draw information from multiple authoritative sources. They echo the voices of experts, offering recommendations rooted in well-regarded lists and rankings. I find it fascinating how they lean heavily on top-ranking Google searches to refine their recommendations, which are potently informed by these highly authoritative sources.
Claude stands apart, favoring traditional compendiums over Google-reliant lists, perhaps embracing a more traditional approach.
Awards, accreditations, and affiliations
Mentioning an award or accreditation on a trustworthy website signals authority, nudging AI to recommend the associated company or product more frequently. It’s quite interesting to see this recognition elevated in the virtual world.
Online Reviews
Online reviews hold substantial sway for ChatGPT, Gemini, and Perplexity, especially reviews from platforms like Amazon, Better Business Bureau, and Glassdoor. I see how a confluence of positive reviews can significantly boost recommendation weight.
Social Sentiment
It’s intriguing to see how the way a company is discussed online, including on news sites and social platforms like Reddit, subtly shapes ChatGPT’s recommendations. Its current influence is modest but poised for growth as trust builds in digital communities.
Customer Examples & Usage Data
Recognized endorsements and partnerships visibly boost a product’s credibility. This factor, used by ChatGPT and Claude, reinforces the reputational weight of significant customer associations or user data.
Google Website Authority
Google attributes site authority based on factors like consistent content publication. Gemini values this significantly, drawing from Google’s well-established credibility measures.
Local Business Reviews
For local queries, Gemini and Perplexity lean on reviews from Google Business Profiles and Yelp. This localized trust mechanism brings a nuanced understanding to the recommendation landscape.
Traditional Databases & Directories
Generative AI chatbots like Claude often delve into established resources like encyclopedias and business directories. This approach weights well-established data heavily in crafting precise business recommendations.
ChatGPT’s Recommendation Algorithm
In my exploration of ChatGPT’s algorithm, I’ve noticed its reliance on Bing to gather authoritative lists, reviews, and rankings. It aggregates and refines recommendations through a blend of sources, ensuring a comprehensive outcome.
Often, top Bing search results heavily guide its recommendations, but in their absence, ChatGPT factors in alternative data like awards, reviews, and social sentiment. An illuminating example involved its interpretation of lawnmower choices guided largely by trusted reviews from notable publications.
Google Gemini’s Recommendation Algorithm
Gemini’s algorithm intrigues me with its Google-centric approach, harnessing authority and reviews together from search results to guide recommendations. Its unique method prioritizes recognized achievements, often steering clear of poorly reviewed companies.
In practical application, Gemini reinterprets product searches by balancing authority with popularity, evidenced by its moisturizer recommendations, aligning sales volume with positive reviews.
Perplexity’s Recommendation Algorithm
What strikes me about Perplexity is its straightforward algorithm, largely favoring search lists and reviews. It often taps into the most readily available online viewpoints to construct its recommendations.
For local business queries, its focus on high-ranking lists underscores a strategy based on easily established credibility from popular review sites.
Claude AI’s Recommendation Algorithm
Unique in its approach, Claude AI depends on traditional databases, often highlighting historically established companies in its recommendations. This somewhat conservative method gives it a distinct identity in the generative AI landscape.
Focused purely on national businesses, it bypasses local recommendations altogether, streamlining its efforts towards broader-scale authority.
Downloading This Report & Inquiries
If you’re curious to learn more or desire a PDF copy of this report, please reach out via our contact page.
First Page Sage is also at the forefront of GEO services. Interested in knowing more? Don’t hesitate to contact us.
